Restructuring efforts in the coal mining sector and a general lack of new base metal prospects lead us to forecast a slow decline in Poland's mining industry. We expect industry value to decline to PLN29.6bn(US$9.5bn) by 2016, an annual average decline of 2.0% from 2010 levels. Nevertheless, the country will remain one of the most significant players in the European coal, silver and copper markets.

Having pumped large sums of money into Poland's troubled coal sector, the government has cashed in with the sale of Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW), Poland's largest coking coal producer. Despite meeting resistance from striking workers in April 2011, the initial public offering (IPO) went ahead once terms were agreed in June. In total, the government is expecting to raise PLN5.8bn, with one-third of the company to be sold on the open market. The sharp increase of coal prices in recent year has led to renewed interest in Poland's
ailing coal sector. One of the most important developments to watch out for in the coming years is the planned IPO of Kompania Weglowa, Europe's largest coal miner with a production capacity of around 48mn tonnes per annum (mntpa). The government announced in March 2012 that the IPO will ideally proceed before 2013 ends.

Dutch miner New World Resources (NWR) has received approval from its board of directors to extract coal from the Debiensko mine in Poland. A feasibility study indicates that the mine has a reserve of 190mn tonnes of coal, allowing for average annual production of 2mn tonnes. NWR expects the first coal to be extracted from the mine in 2017. Total investment in the project will reach EUR411mn, which is modest compared to typical investments in mines, and appears to be good value in our view, considering that NWR has a 50-year licence to mine the resource. NWR is also looking to mine coal at a number of additional coal seams at the site, with approval expected in 2012.
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